We are going on a project visit to Nepal and India in October and some great supporters of World Accord are coming along to experience and learn. Would YOU like to join us? Cost will be $4,500 to $5000 depending on flights for the three week trip. Of course you could stay longer and tour your other areas of choice in Asia. It will mainly be about visiting our projects in these countries and learning from and sharing with program participants. There will also be some cultural/geographical experiences/opportunities we will explore. Contact me for more details if you are interested. dbarth@worldaccord.org or 1-800-525-3545 Please feel free to share with friends you think might like to come and should be involved with World Accord. Thanks. Hope to see you there. David Barth Executive Director

Thank you so much for your help. Take care and have a great august.

David "If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading."- Lao TzuDavid Barth, Executive Director World Accord 1C - 185 Frobisher Dr.Waterloo, ON N2V 2E6 CANADA

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Chilliwack Corn Roast

The corn is ready so it’s time for the Annual Chilliwack Corn Roast at the Community of Christ Church!

Date: Sunday August 19th

Time: Games: 3:00 pm - outside if weather permits

Supper: 5:00 pm

Board Games: after supper

Place: Community of Christ church, 9845 Carleton St., Chilliwack.

Cost: $7.00 (children under 5 - free) all you can eat.

The members of the Chilliwack congregation are looking forward to visiting with old friends and meeting new ones so please plan to come and enjoy the feeling of community - and the CORN!

If you have any questions please contact me, Pastor Janine 604-392-9479 jem99@shaw.ca

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Click here to see our CWM Camping Guide with full descriptions of our camps, Guest Ministry, Camp Directors and Registrars.

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Women’s Retreat

Hi Everyone, below is our poster regarding the Women's Retreat that Chilliwack Community of Christ is hosting in October. Please read the poster, mark the date on your calendar, and plan to attend this weekend. We look forward to a weekend of learning, laughter, worship and friendship.

Printed copies of this Newsletter are in the mail and available in your home congregation.

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Journey for Hope

George Chan and John Lowe are fortunate in that they are both cancer survivors. George won his battle against a stage 4 mantle cell lymphoma diagnosis, while John successfully defeated kidney cancer.Both men have a common dream: to spread the message that cancer can be beaten, and to raise funds for cancer research. The Journey for Hope is an expression of this dream. A three-month bike ride benefiting the BC Cancer Foundation, the Journey spans over 8,000 kilometers from St. John’s Newfoundland to Victoria, British Columbia. During this endeavour, George and John are meeting with Canadians across this great nation. Their audience ranges from diners at small-town eateries, fellow campers at provincial camp sites, and Canadians watching the Journey being featured on the evening news. The Journey’s message of hope remains the same: cancer can be beaten, so let’s work together towards a cure. The Journey started on June 1, 2012 with a goal to raise $100,000 for the BC Cancer Foundation. The Journey is being chronicled via the Internet at www.journeyforhope.ca This website also provides an online portal if people wish to make a donation.

If you or your congregation would like to offer the team a healthy lunch and hear some of their stories when they are in your town please contact them at http://www.journeyforhope.ca/contact-us/ *Please note that dates are approximate*

August 4- Calgary Alberta

August 16 – Abbottsford, BC

August 17 – Vancouver, BC

August 18 – Victoria, BC

John Lowe who is leading this group is a friend of Terry and Sandra Fielder. He has cycled across Canada with the Fielders in 2006. He has only one kidney, now after battling Cancer of the Kidney.

George Chan started cycling in 2009 and has never cycled across Canada. He was diagnosed in 2007 with 4 stage Lymphoma. He has a strong testimony of the strength, he has drawn from the support he receives on this Journey for Hope

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Peace and Justice -- Human Rights

June -- July, 2012

Welcome to this issue from the “In The Forefront” mailing list. To alter your profile, follow the steps at the end, where your profile is listed.

This issue provides actions on Syria, Sudan and Burma, among others. The previously mentioned new feature of these newsletters - occasional sections that focus more in-depth on an issue – will be delayed until the fall. The first such focus will remain the issue of “Mental Health”. The blog associated with this newsletter is at: http://untilall.org/blogs/newsletter/. Feel free to comment on any topic.

What started as peaceful protests over a year ago in Syria has now escalated into an armed conflict throughout the country. Some 15,000 people are dead, thousands have been arrested and many tortured with hundreds dying in custody. Over one million people have fled or are internally displaced. As well, opposition fighters have also reportedly tortured and killed captured members of the army and their supporters.

The international community has struggled to take effective action. On March 27, 2012 the Syrian government accepted a ‘six-point plan’ by UN Special envoy Kofi Annan and a ceasefire was agreed on April 12. Yet the fighting has continued unabated.

The Russian Federation supported the peace initiative. Yet that same government has repeatedly used its veto at the UN Security Council to block or weaken resolutions aimed at stopping the violence in Syria, while remaining the main weapons supplier to Syrian forces.

Please consider sending a message to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, calling on him to help stop the bloodshed. While it would be naïve to assume such letters themselves would change his decision, it is important that the international community not be silent. As well, given that Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad could face war crimes charges, at the end of the day, what regime wants to be found on the wrong side of history?

Consider sending a message to your member of Congress asking them to cosponsor the Sudan Peace, Security, and Accountability Act of 2012. The act calls for a comprehensive strategy to end serious human rights violations in Sudan, to create incentives for other governments and persons to stop supporting Sudan and its resulting atrocities, and to reinvigorate genuinely comprehensive peace efforts in Sudan. It aims to change Sudan’s calculus using diplomatic measures and {non civilian targeted} sanctions. It also advocates policy to help end human rights violations in Sudan.

This newsletter has highlighted how Darfur and Sudan move in and out of the news spotlight – such is the nature of long-standing conflicts. But as noted in Current Status, there continues to be significant political oppression, and various areas of either atrocities or humanitarian crises.

________________________________________________________________________ U.S.: TELL US REPRESENTATIVES TO MAINTAIN SANCTIONS AGAINST BURMA

After such a long period of political oppression, and at times areas that verged on ethnic cleansing, it has been an almost stunning to see the signs of change, as indicated by recent events surrounding Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi. Yet while this forward momentum toward democracy should be encouraged, it needs to be mixed with much caution, so that it does not reward a government that is still carrying out severe human rights abuses against innocent civilians -- particularly in Burma's ethnic minority states.

Thus the following action calls on the U.S. to renew the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act which will continue to prohibit products made in Burma from being imported into the United States -- it will deny hundreds of millions of dollars from getting into the hands of Burma's military. While such sanctions punish everyone by prohibiting economic growth, in this case even Aung San Suu Kyi indicates that they need to remain until real political change occurs. She sees this as a real leverage point that should not be lost. Lifting them without real change will primarily reward the military with only minimal help for the citizens.

Walmart recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. As the world’s largest retailer, its policies hold tremendous clout. Thus in the action below, you can send a greeting which includes birthday wishes to improve workers’ lives, and to sign on to national or global agreements that strengthen local communities, ensure labour and safety standards, and freedom of association.

It has been hugely disappointing to see the failure to negotiate a new Arms Trade Treaty. The proliferation of arms around the world has helped turn local conflicts into large-scale human tragedies for civilians. Our longitudinal study of Darfur is a case in point, where the flood of simply small arms in the 1980s turned local conflicts in the deadly explosive scenarios we have witnessed. The flood of arms did not generate the conflict, but they did allow the manipulation of the various conflicts to be highly magnified, resulting in enormous civilian tolls and allowing the entrenchment of political/power landscapes. The only positive note is that the door is open for further talks and a vote could occur by the end of the year. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/28/arms-trade-treaty-william-hague

About This Blog

The CWM Weekly Ann­ounce­ment blog keeps you up to date with what is happening in the Canada West Mission. It is usually published every Thursday – enter your email below to automatically receive every new post in your email inbox.